To amend the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to provide for a job training grant pilot program.

May 5, 2003

Mr. COLEMAN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

To amend the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to provide for a job training grant pilot program.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. JOB TRAINING GRANT PILOT PROGRAM.

Section 171 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2916) is amended by striking subsection (d) and inserting the following:

`(d) JOB TRAINING GRANT PILOT PROGRAM-

`(1) IN GENERAL-

`(A) GRANTS- The Secretary shall provide grants to qualified job training programs as follows:

`(i) PLACEMENT GRANTS- Grants in an amount to be determined by the Secretary shall be provided to qualified job training programs upon placement of a qualified graduate in qualifying employment.

`(ii) RETENTION GRANTS- An additional grant in an amount to be determined by the Secretary shall be provided to qualified job training programs upon retention of a qualified graduate in qualifying employment for a period of 1 year.

`(B) DETERMINATION- In determining the amount of the grants to be provided under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall consider the economic benefit received by the Government from the employment of the qualified graduate, including increased tax revenue and decreased unemployment benefits or other support obligations.

`(2) QUALIFIED JOB TRAINING PROGRAM- For purposes of this subsection, a qualified job training program is 1 that--

`(A) is operated by a nonprofit or for-profit entity, partnership, or joint venture formed under the laws of--

`(i) the United States or a territory of the United States;

`(ii) any State; or

`(iii) any county or locality;

`(B) offers education and training in--

`(i) basic skills, such as reading, writing, mathematics, information processing, and communications;

`(ii) technical skills, such as accounting, computers, printing, and machining;

`(iii) thinking skills, such as reasoning, creative thinking, decision making, and problem solving; and

`(iv) personal qualities, such as responsibility, self-esteem, self-management, honesty, and integrity;

`(C) provides income supplements when needed to eligible participants (defined for purposes of this paragraph as an individual who meets the criteria described in subparagraphs (A) through (C) of paragraph (3)) for housing, counseling, tuition, and other basic needs;

`(D) provides eligible participants with not less than 160 hours of instruction, assessment, or professional coaching; and

`(E) invests an average of $10,000 in training per graduate of such program.

`(3) QUALIFIED GRADUATE- For purposes of this subsection, a qualified graduate is an individual who is a graduate of a qualified job training program and who--

`(A) is 18 years of age or older;

`(B) had in either of the 2 preceding taxable years Federal adjusted gross income not exceeding the maximum income of a very low-income family (as defined in section 3(b)(2) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)(2))) for a single individual; and

`(C) has assets of not more than $10,000, exclusive of the value of an owned homestead, indexed for inflation.

`(4) QUALIFYING EMPLOYMENT- For purposes of this subsection, qualifying employment shall include any permanent job or employment paying annual wages of not less than $18,000, and not less than $10,000 more than the qualified graduate earned before receiving training from the qualified job training program.'.

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